The next day I leave earlier than usual as I promised to meet Drake.
I can see him waiting for me as I grind to a halt outside the bar. Seeing his gorgeous face looking at me with so much love sends shivers down my spine. After the hatred of last night it is more than welcome. I can't run to him quickly enough and in surprise he holds me tightly against him as I hug him tightly. "What's up Scarlett?" He says pulling away and looking gently into my eyes.
Reaching up I kiss him softly and relax into him. "I just missed you that's all. I had a horrible evening and couldn't get out of the house fast enough. I don't think that there is anyone in that house that I get on with and it is nothing like I feel when I am here with you."
Smiling gently at me Drake pulls me close and kisses me deeply. "Come on then darlin, let's go and be girlfriend and boyfriend."
He puts his arm around my shoulder and we head off. I know that he is taking me to his grandparent's house and my father's warning ring in my ears. Despite what he says I don't care. If I want to get close to Drake I will; I mean he is a fine one to talk anyway and as for my brothers. No I am going to follow the family motto and just do whatever I want to regardless of the consequences and let him just try and stop me.
We spend a delicious morning making out at his grandparent's house. All we want is to be close and spend the morning on the couch kissing and cuddling. It is with heavy hearts that we drag ourselves back to the bar for our shifts.
Once again Dylan is cross with us as he has had to open up by himself. Drake whispers, "Sorry Scarlett, he's on edge at the moment what with the situation here and the fight next week, he's not normally like this."
I give him a worried smile and he squeezes my hand before heading off to re-stock the bar. I am worried about them both. They are too young to have all of this on their shoulders. Dylan should be enjoying college and Drake high school. Thinking about Drake I hope that he can pursue his music career as it would be a waste of a good talent otherwise.
As it's quiet I make Dylan a coffee and go off in search of him. Somebody needs to take care of him and I can't see a queue forming at the door.
I find him in his office once again poring over the paperwork. He looks up and smiles as he gratefully takes the coffee that I hand him. "Thanks darlin you're a life saver."
Perching on the edge of the desk I indicate the paperwork. "Still ploughing through it all I see. Can't anyone else help you with it?"
He shakes his head ruefully. "No, I have to get it all in some sort of order for Mr Anderson. He is coming in later on and I am supposed to have done it all already."
Thinking hard I look at the clock on the wall. "Listen Dylan, it's just an idea and say no if you want to but I could organise it all for you and just pull out the things that need signing. I'm quite quick and I do all of this sort of stuff for my mom. You would need to cover me in the bar but it would probably only be for an hour."
Dylan looks at me gratefully. "Would you do that for me, really? I mean I don't want to put you out." I laugh softly. "Look I just want to help you. I know it's tough for you all at the moment and I'm available so why not? It will give me something to do other than tables to clean and I quite enjoy it." Dylan jumps up and hugs me.
"Thanks Scarlett, now I'm getting out of here before you change your mind. Anything you need just holler, ok?"
I laugh as he leaves obviously in a great hurry to get away from the paperwork. I wasn't lying when I said I was used to it. My mom isn't very good at any of it so I sort of took it on when I was old enough. This will take me no time at all.
I set to work and have soon organised the piles of papers into sections. I order them in urgency and put everything that is overdue or imminent in one pile and organise the rest by date. The desk soon looks a lot tidier and I sit back proud of myself. I decide to look through the imminent pile and make sure that it's all in order for Mr Anderson.
It is mainly due or overdue invoices but there are some forms that require a signature. One is for the licence renewal so I put it aside for Dylan to sign. The other form is to renew the Insurance. As I read through it I am surprised that they don't take out a full contents and buildings Insurance. This one just appears to be a basic one just covering for accidental damage and public liability. I notice that it is due on the same day as the fight which shouldn't mean anything but somehow it does to me.
As I look at it something goes off in my brain. I am not sure what but know that something is going on. I have no idea what it could be but somehow know this paper is significant. The door opens and Drake pokes his head around it. "You ok Scarlett? Sorry to ask but the lunch time crowd is in and we could sure use a hand." I jump up and go to help but I can't get the feeling out of my head that something is about to happen.
Drake was right the bar is busy and it takes all of us just to keep things ticking along. It still annoys me to see the different groups of girls that plague the place, mainly just to hit on Drake and Dylan. I still get groped by the men and just suck it all up, I have lost my temper once here and I am not going to do it again. Occasionally a customer gets a bit too keen and a couple of times Drake and Dylan have jumped in and warned the guy off.
As we work away the three of us in the bar and Mac in the kitchen I realise that I feel more like this is my family than my own. I am grateful that my father found me this job, whatever his reasons were for it. I am sure that he didn't know at the time just how much I would love it here.
It's only after the lunch time rush that I remember the paperwork. Calling Dylan over I say, "Whilst it's quiet Dylan I'll get the paperwork for you to sign."
He follows me into the office and I explain what I have done. When we come to the Insurance form I wonder whether or not to say anything but throw caution to the wind and take the plunge.
"Dylan, I'm sorry to pry but I couldn't help notice that you have only ticked the cover for contents and public liability. Do you have cover for the rest elsewhere?"
Dylan immediately looks worried and I feel bad for mentioning it. "It's all we can afford at the moment. The premium was so high that I had to make the decision to go with the cheaper cover. I'm sure it will be fine though as we are extremely careful and check everything over and over again before we leave."
As much as I can see his reasons I am not sure I agree with them. "What does Mr Anderson think?" Dylan looks surprised. "I don't pay him enough to think. He just pays it all and does the tax returns."
Suddenly Drake opens the door and says, "Mr Anderson's here for the paperwork, shall I send him through?" Dylan nods and then sighs. "Thanks Scarlett. I couldn't have done this without your help. At least it's one job done." I give his arm a squeeze and leave him to it. I want to help them so badly but don't know how. One thing I do know though is my father can spot a good thing when he sees it and it won't be long before they buckle under the pressure.
I busy myself out in the bar and wait for Mr Anderson to leave. A plan has begun to form in my mind and it is going to take all of my cunning and manipulation to pull it off.
About an hour later I see the door from the office opening and I quickly dash out and start clearing a nearby table near the door. I hear him call out goodbye to Drake and count down until I know that he will be near me. As soon as I know that he is there I swing around with my tray and the contents fall all over him. He looks at me angrily and I look at him apologetically. "Oh I'm so sorry sir, I didn't hear you coming. Please let me help you." I take my cloth and start wiping his jacket that has taken the brunt of the contents of the glass that was balanced on the tray.
He looks annoyed. "Its fine Miss, don't worry accidents happen."
I play along saying, "No no I feel so embarrassed you must let me at least help clean your jacket."
As I place my hand on him I concentrate all of my energy on reading his mind. It is like a computer download and doesn't take long.
Pulling away he smiles
and makes for the door. As I watch him go Drake comes over laughing. "That was hilarious. For some reason I can't stand that man, he gives me the creeps. Seeing you pour warm beer all over him made my day."
I laugh as he kisses me and then swings me around playfully. "What's going on?" Dylan comes out of the office and looks at us with amusement. "Scarlett just drenched Mr Anderson, you should have been here."
Dylan grins. "He's always been a bit wet behind the ears anyway." We all laugh and carry on with our work. However my mission was accomplished as I think about what I learned from our contact. The trouble is nobody can know what I found out, there is too much at stake. No I will have to figure this out myself.